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FRANCE, Paris : France's President Francois Hollande speaks during a press conference after a meeting with the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SNC) at the Elysee presidential palace on August 29, 2013 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

Hollande told French daily Le Monde in an interview that he supported taking “firm” punitive action over an attack he said had caused “irreparable” harm to the Syrian people and said he would work closely with France’s allies to punish the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Asked if France could take action without Britain, Hollande replied: “Yes. Each country is sovereign to participate or not in an operation. That is valid for Britain as it is for France.”

French defence officials said openly on Thursday for the first time that the military is preparing for a possible operation, but stopped short of announcing armed intervention.

“We will only achieve this [political solution] if the international community is capable of bringing a stop to this escalation of violence, of which the chemical massacre is just one illustration,'' Hollande said after meeting Syrian opposition leader Ahmad al-Jarba on Thursday.

Several US naval ships have been making their way to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in recent days, while two French anti-air frigates were heading in the same direction. France also has a dozen cruise missile-capable fighter aircraft at military bases in the United Arab Emirates and the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti.